autochthonous adj

1 of rocks, deposits, etc.; found where they and their constituents were formed [ant: allochthonous]

2 originating where it is found; "the autochthonal fauna of Australia includes the kangaroo"; "autochthonous rocks and people and folktales"; "endemic folkways"; "the Ainu are indigenous to the northernmost islands of Japan" [syn: autochthonal, autochthonic, endemic, indigenous]

English

Etymology

Literally, "native to the soil"; from autochthon.

Pronunciation

• a RP /ɔːˈtɒkθənəs/, /O:"takT@n@s/
• a US /ɑːˈtɑːkθənəs/

Adjective

1. Native to the place where found; indigenous.
   • 1889, Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. I, p. 375.

     Two of the most celebrated of the evolutionists reject the autochthonous view, for Darwin's Descent of Man and Haeckel's Hist. of Creation consider the American man an emigrant from the old world, whatever way the race may have developed

2. In the context of "biology|medicine": Originating, where found.
3. Buried in place, especially of a fossil preserved in its life position without disturbance or disarticulation.
   • 1992 — Anna K. Behrensmeyer, et al., Terrestrial Ecosystems Through Time, page 83

     Death and burial may be simultaneous, resulting in a preserved snapshot of an autochthonous assemblage that may be compared directly with present day ecosystems.

Synonyms

• sense native to the place where found aboriginal, autochthonic, indigenous, native

Antonyms

• sense buried in place allochthonous

Translations

• Polish: autochtoniczny

Related terms

• autochthonal
• autochthonic
• autochthonism
• autochthony
• autochthonously
• parautochtonous

Trivia

• autochthonous was the winning word at the 2004 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Autochthon (and variants thereof) may refer to:

• The original inhabitants (indigenous peoples) of a place (auto + chthon (earth))
  • Autochthonous language, the language of an indigenous people
  • Autochthonous church, the indigenous church of a people
• The indigenous flora and fauna of a region; see native species
• A sediment or rock that can be found at its site of formation or deposition, as opposed to an allochthon, which has moved from that site
• Autochthons are the natural inhabitants on a refuge of the CY30-CY30B star system in the novel The Divine Invasion by Philip K. Dick. They worship the deity Yah who has been banished from Earth and must then invade several characters in the story in order to return to Earth again.
• Autochtoon, a term in Dutch: a native-born citizen of the Netherlands or Flanders whose parents were also native-born, as opposed to an allochtoon, whose parents were not native-born.
• Autochthon (Exalted), a Primordial deity in White Wolf's role playing game Exalted.
• Autochthon Wurm, a card from Wizard of the Coast's Magic: the Gathering Trading Card Game.
• Autochton (butterfly), a genus of skipper butterflies

Autochthonous is the adjective and autochthon is the noun. From auto + the Greek chthon, the earth, soil = sprung from the earth or the soil itself.

See also: Chthon

abecedarian, aboriginal, ancestral, antenatal, antepatriarchal, atavistic, beginning, budding, creative, elemental, elementary, embryonic, endemic, fetal, formative, foundational, fundamental, gestatory, homebred, homegrown, humanoid, in embryo, in its infancy, in the bud, inaugural, inceptive, inchoate, inchoative, incipient, incunabular, indigenous, infant, infantile, initial, initiative, initiatory, introductory, inventive, nascent, natal, native, native-born, original, parturient, patriarchal, postnatal, preadamite, preglacial, pregnant, prehistoric, prehuman, prenatal, primal, primary, prime, primeval, primitive, primogenial, primoprimitive, primordial, pristine, procreative, protohistoric, protohuman, rudimental, rudimentary, ur, vernacular